Sustain in Spain

Last night we noted that Dartmouth College has hired its first “sustainability director,” Jim Merkel. The Dartmouth Daily story on Merkel’s hiring reported that Merkel — “who is currently bicycing through Spain to promote his book ‘Radical Simplicity’” — has lived “on only $5,000 a year — close to the global average income — for the past 14 years.”
We have been flooded with email responding to our post on Mr. Merkel. Speaking most concisely for several of our readers is Mark James, who observes of Mr. Merkel’s budget: “All the more remarkable when you consider that the round trip to Spain alone is about $1,000 from New York.”